Sam Dingle - James Hooton

[kirsty_g]

i cant stand sam and alice

[eastenders mad]

me either

[Chris_2k11]

Im not too keen on them either.

[alan45]

Emmerdale's Sam Dingle finds himself in hot water with the police over the next fortnight as he is framed for the upcoming Home Farm fire.

Viewers will see Declan Macey (Jason Merrells) commit arson at his mansion in dramatic scenes on Christmas Day, but Sam later becomes the police's prime suspect when CCTV footage puts him at the scene of the crime.

Sam was at Home Farm shortly before the blaze to return Christmas presents that he and girlfriend Rachel Breckle had stolen from Declan. However, his attempt to do the right thing leaves Declan and Charity Sharma with the perfect opportunity to pin the blame on him for the fire…

Here, James Hooton - who plays Sam - previews the trouble in store for his character.

Before all of the drama kicks off, how is Sam feeling about his future with Rachel?
"He's feeling very positive about it, especially once they've got engaged at Christmas. Sam loves her very much and he wants to build a life together with her, Archie and Samson. He thinks they've got a future together, they've got much in common, they love each other and they're looking to bring the two children up."

The Home Farm fire marks a sinister change for Sam. How does he think the fire started?
"Sam is initially extremely concerned that he may have started it himself, because he's taken some stolen presents back to Home Farm and has managed to knock a Christmas tree into the fire. Some embers have come out of the fire and set fire to a rug that's in the Home Farm living room. Sam stamps these out because he's in a rush to leave as he's heard someone is coming into the house.

"He thinks he's stamped all the embers out, but when he hears about the fire, he obviously initially thinks that maybe it was him who set fire to the property. He subsequently finds out that an accelerant - petrol or something of that nature - was used, so he's leaning towards the idea that it was arson and someone had deliberately started it."

Does Sam confide in Rachel about his concerns?
"Initially Sam doesn't let on to anyone, even Rachel, that he suspects he could have started the fire but quite soon afterwards he does open up. When he realises that Home Farm is on fire, he shares his concerns with Rachel and the family go up to the house and watch it burning."


When does Sam first find out that he could be in trouble with the police?
"I think he hears whispers that the police have been asking questions in The Woolpack. He is concerned about that, and then when the police actually turn up at the house and start to question him, obviously he's starting to worry about what's going on."

How does Sam cope with the questioning?
"I think he incriminates himself to an extent, because there's just things in his story that don't seem to match up. He's just forgetting things, but it's making him look as if he's lying. At first he's trying to conceal the fact that he went up to Home Farm to take the presents back. Once the police point out that they've got the CCTV footage of him going into the house, he has to change his story.

"Then there's a few other discrepancies - he goes to meet Rachel after he's taken the presents back to the house, and he forgets to tell the police that he had a flat tyre on the way and that slowed him down. So the chronology of the events, and the timings of things, don't quite match up."

Does Sam try to protect Rachel when he gives his answers to the police?
"He tries to protect Rachel in terms of the reasoning for trying to steal the presents in the first place, which was actually Rachel's idea. He tries to say that it was all his idea and it was nothing to do with her, but he's just incriminating himself basically."

Wanting to protect Declan, it's Charity who is telling the police to investigate Sam - and she even douses his jumper with petrol to frame him further! How would Sam feel if he found out about Charity's actions?
"I don't think he would believe it for one second if someone told him that Charity is instrumental in him getting framed. Family is very important for the Dingles, so obviously it would be a very difficult thing to come to terms with if he were to know the true series of events and who was behind them. It's all about family solidarity, so it would be very difficult for Sam to believe that Charity was involved."


Is Sam optimistic that he'll be cleared?
"I think through this whole story Sam is very concerned that he could be going to prison, or that he could be charged with this undoubted crime. I don't think he has the ability to dig himself out of it, but he does have faith in the justice system and because he didn't do it, he believes that the evidence will point towards him being innocent in the end, because he hasn't actually done it.

"At first it's circumstantial evidence. The CCTV puts him at the scene of the crime, but he admits under questioning that he's been there and explains his purpose for his trip to the house. He comes as clean as he possibly can about the series of events and how he had reason to believe that they may have impacted on the fire starting.

"But once he realises that there was petrol or some other accelerant involved, he realises that it's obviously nothing to do with him - he hopes that it will come to light."

How supportive is everybody being?
"Obviously those closest to Sam support and believe everything he's saying. Rachel obviously knows that Sam is not capable of doing something like that. Those closest to Sam are on his side, in his corner, and are trying to help him protest his innocence."


What have the scenes been like to film?
"It's been brilliant filming these scenes. It's been a great meaty story to get your teeth into. It's a very busy period of time - we're filming a lot of episodes over a short period, but it's been fantastic - it's always good to play dramatic scenes. When you're playing a story such as this, it's what all of us aspire to do when we join the show - film good stuff that's written - and that's exactly what this is."

Would Sam cope if he ended up in prison?
"I think the last thing Sam could cope with would be going back to prison - he's been to prison before and he's not coped at all well with it. He's not cut out for the inside as he's a very sensitive soul - he needs his loved ones and a support mechanism around him.

"In a prison environment, everything in Sam's life sort of crumbles so he's not able to cope with that."

How does Sam feel about his future with Rachel after all of these events?
"Of course the idea that their future could be ruined is absolutely devastating for Sam - he's just building something very special with Rachel. I think if the worst came to the worse she would probably stand by him, but it would just be such a devastating knife in the back of their relationship and their ability to grow as a couple…"

[Perdita]

Emmerdale's Sam Dingle will be torn next week as his old feelings for Rachel Breckle start to return.

Sam (James Hooton) has recently reignited his relationship with Tracy Shankley, but is now facing a dilemma with Rachel also back in the village.

Next week's episodes see Sam continue to behave coldly towards Rachel when she tries to get back on good terms with him.

Despite this, Rachel proves persistent and tells Sam that he can see her young son Archie whenever he likes.

Unhappy with Rachel's attempts to reconcile with Sam, Tracy continues to interfere by reminding her that he has moved on. However, it's clear that Sam is secretly conflicted as his feelings for Rachel are rearing their head again.

Speaking to Digital Spy this week, Gemma Oaten - who plays Rachel - promised much more drama to come as her character tries to win Sam back.

Oaten said: "Rachel is quite gobsmacked and slightly hard done by, because she left the village to protect Sam and now he's with this girl with heels and blonde hair! But then that opens up the possibility of maybe a love triangle down the line. There's a lot of good stuff to play.

"Selfishly, I love working with James Hooton who plays Sam and that's always a joy. I think Rachel and Sam had something very special and sweet. Hopefully the viewers have always championed those two together. There might be some obstacles along the way and Rachel might need some people to egg her on, but she's definitely going to try."

[lizann]

go rachel fight for him

[Serena Williams]

Why is sam Dingle on the show still what purpose does he serve? I am inquiring is Sam supposed to represent people who are retarded? I apologize in advance if that is not the correct terminology. I get that sam is slow but I do not think he has downs syndrome like Leo. So is sam just a token character like he is supposed to present mentally challenged people? Or is sam autistic or have asperger syndrome. I am not sure what sam adds to the show? I hope he is killed off in the summer.

[Telly Watcher]

James Hooton (42yo, Sam) and Gemma Oaten (31yo, Rachel) gave an ITV interview yesterday about Rachel's exit storyline.

I hadn't seen how James Hooton is like in real life before this interview and was amazed to realise how well he acts the part of Sam.

digitalspy.co.uk published on Wednesday August 26th 2015:
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'My jaw just hit the floor': Emmerdale fans shocked by Sam Dingle's This Morning interview

By Daniel Kilkelly

Wednesday, Aug 26 2015, 15:15 BST

He's paid to act for a living, but some Emmerdale fans still had their minds blown today (August 26) when they realised that James Hooton is nothing like his character Sam Dingle.

The show regular, who has played Sam since 1995, made a rare appearance as himself earlier today when he was interviewed on ITV's This Morning to promote his latest storyline.

Hooton featured alongside his on-screen love interest Gemma Oaten, who bows out as Rachel Breckle tonight, but his well-spoken and thoughtful responses to questions about their domestic abuse plot clearly came as a surprise to some.

Poor Sam has faced a tough time recently, as Rachel has been unleashing her anger at him following her own problems with bully boy Jai Sharma.

Speaking about the plot today, Hooton explained: "As an actor, it's always interesting to get a variety of different storylines and the soaps are rife for different stories. It's been lovely to play this sort of story from our perspective as actors. Obviously it's quite a harrowing subject matter to take on board, particularly the twist with it being a woman abusing a man in this case.

"But from my point of view, it's just been fantastic to play and it's offered us a great opportunity to have a different sort of chemistry on screen this time. It's not just the love story, it's the tearing apart of the relationship, which has been interesting to play."



This week's Emmerdale episodes have seen Rachel finally accept that her behaviour is out of control, which leads to her leaving Sam and moving to Liverpool with her sister Ali Spencer tonight.

The emotional scenes mark the end of Oaten's 7-month return stint as Rachel.
>

See interview video at: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s1...interview.html

James Hooton on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hooton

Gemma Oaten on wikipedia: http://emmerdale-wiki.wikia.com/wiki/GEMMA_OATEN

[mariba]

I've seen him before in Emmerdale documentaries. And yes-it's true, he's a very good actor. Plus doesn't make too much noise about himself like some others.
Sam is one of those characters that some don't appreciate, but I think Emmerdale wouldn't be the same without Sam's kindness.

[mariba]

I've seen him before in Emmerdale documentaries. And yes-it's true, he's a very good actor. Plus doesn't make too much noise about himself like some others.
Sam is one of those characters that some don't appreciate, but I think Emmerdale wouldn't be the same without Sam's kindness.